Homework

Assignment 1: Word Classes, Clause Elements, and Grammatical Phrases

Read the relevant parts of the compendium and UGE, and go through the PowerPoint presentations (see Grammar: Dates and Deadlines for information), then do the following three exercises, using sentences 1–12 below (cut and paste the sentences for each exercise!). Post your answers in the discussion board and comment on the work of the three others in your group. Focus on discussing the parts that you found most difficult and/or the parts that the group disagrees on. Then submit your answers (revise these if necessary after the discussion) in the assignment 1 drop-box in Moodle. You will then be sent a key. E-mail your supervisor if you have questions.

1. The old woman was knitting in her favourite chair.

2. Every student considered this module the best part of the course.

3. Who shot Olof Palme?

4. Two people in the class felt tired.

5. Somebody has been telling my sister lies.

6. Unfortunately my husband is in hospital.

7. The teacher jammed the student’s head in the door.

8. The student thought this rather unreasonable behaviour.

9. The dog has eaten my homework.

10. That bloody idiot makes me sick.

11. Grammar sometimes appears logical.

12. He arrived late and apologised profusely.

Exercise 1: Word classes

Label the words in sentences 1–12: noun, verb, adj. (adjective), adv. (adverb), pron. (pronoun), num. (numeral), prep. (preposition), conj. (conjunction), int. (interjection). As articles fall outside these categories, label these simply as ‛article’.

Example: The (article) cat (noun) sat (verb) on (prep.) the (article) mat (noun).

Exercise 2: Clause elements

Label the clause elements in sentences 1–12: subject (S), verb (V), direct object (Od), indirect object (Oi), subject predicative (Ps), object predicative (Po), or Adverbial (A).

Example: The cat (S) sat (V) on the mat (A).

Exercise 3: Grammatical phrases

Label the grammatical phrases in sentences 1–12: noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), adjective phrase (AdjP), adverb phrase (AdvP), or prepositional phrase (PP). Remember that a phrase can consist of only one word, the head.

Example: The cat (NP) sat (VP) on the mat (PP). [the mat (NP)]